Train Trip from Chicago to Iowa

After our day in Chicago we had to make our way to the AmTrak station for our train trip from Chicago to Iowa (we had arranged to get picked up at the train station and driven to our rental house where the rest of Tom's family was waiting for us).  The walk from our motel to the AmTrak station took a little time, but our train didn't leave until later that afternoon so we had plenty of time.  Although I have to admit we looked like a bunch of tourist walking down the street towing our suitcases with us!

After we got to the train station we had a little while to waste before our train left so we wondered around.  We started with lunch of course, then we decided to locate the older section of the train station.  It was pretty cool!  It was a huge open room that looked like your normal train station with benches everywhere.  It also had some pretty cool pillars that I made Tom pose with me in front of.  Aren't we just adorable!

While we were there a train got canceled and all the people that were going to ride on that train got moved to a later train (luckily not ours).  When we were lining up to get on our train the other train was doing the same thing with twice as many people as there should have been.  It was kind of hilarious seeing that many people try to line up for two different trains in the little room we were in (this was obviously not the room pictured above).

The train turned out to be a lot more comfortable that I thought it would be.  Tom and I actually thought of taking the train all the way from Washington but it was going to be too expensive.  They have rooms with beds you can purchase for a lot of money, so we obviously didn't do that.  For out trip from Chicago to Iowa we didn't need a bed because the trip was only a few hours long.  We had really comfy seats that we got to spend the trip in.  Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of them, but the seats were plenty big and with plenty of leg room.

We also were allowed to move around the train as much as we wanted.  They had an observation car where you could hang out and watch the scenery.  They also had a dining car (although we didn't use it).  Tom and I want to take the train again and use the dining car this time (but we will still probably not upgrade to the beds).

It was a nice train ride that we all enjoyed!  Definitely a lot funner than by car or plane!

Chicago

So, it seems that July has come and gone.  I was only home for half of the month.  There was way too much that happened to fit into one blog.  So, I'm going to start at the beginning and work forward.  For the first week of July we traveled to Illinois, Iowa, and Indiana.  We were meeting Tom's family for a family reunion near Nauvoo, IL. We decided to start the trip by meeting Tom's brother Shaun & his wife Alicia in Chicago.  The original plan was to have all night there with them (they were coming from SLC, UT).  Unfortunately, their plane was delayed and they didn't get in until around 10:00 that night.  We flew in earlier that afternoon after a very early flight from Seattle.  We took a little commuter train to get to the downtown area and checked into our motel room and was able to get a little nap.

 (View from our motel room)

The motel was a little bit scary.  It was right next to the train, which made it easy to get to the motel but a little annoying once we were there.  It was also a pretty old building that made me fear for my life anytime I got in the elevator.  The bedroom was pretty good, but it had two smaller beds again (this is becoming a bit of a tradition with us in motels), plus it didn't have a great walkway to the bathroom.  Definitely not somewhere I will stay again, but it worked for one night.

(Motel Room)

Later that night we wandered around downtown Chicago waiting for Shaun and Alicia to arrive.  It was a nice walk, especially when it cooled down (remember we are wimpy Washingtonians now....it was hot).  Once Shaun and Alicia arrived we took off for this little pizza joint called Uno's to have us some official Chicago Deep Dish Pizza.  It was surprisingly delicious.  My previous experience with Deep Dish Pizza hasn't been the best.  I think in general they are greasy and heavy.  I don't know how they make theirs differently, but it wasn't greasy and very delicious!  We also chose to get a couple of appetizers (did I mention that we didn't eat until around 11:00 at night) we were quite hungry.  We were surprised how big the appetizers ended up being.  We got "Onion Crisps" and a "Vegetable Tray".  Everything was delicious.  Luckily we walked all the way there so we had to walk all the way back to the motel, so we had to wear off some of the food before we went to sleep.

Downtown Chicago was interesting, but that's about it.  I enjoyed our experience there, but I don't think we'll go back.  Definitely my favorite part was dinner that night.

(Cool Art Eye)

(Downtown Chicago Library - we loved the metal on the top)

Wild Waves

For the past month I've spent a lot of it on the go.  I've had two funerals and a wedding that I had to travel out of the state for.  It's been happy, heartbreaking, and exhausting.  It's also been pretty stressful.  A few weeks ago, my cousin Jana invited us to join her and her husband Josh at Wild Waves this weekend.  Her employer was having a special weekend at Wild Waves that offered us the opportunity to buy tickets for half off.  Tom and I considered not going due to financial situations, but I'm so glad that we decided to just go ahead and go.  I really needed a fun laid back day to just relax and have fun!

I've never been to Wild Waves before.  I had just assumed it was a water park.  For those of you that are like me and have not been there personally, there is a small amusement park along with the water features.  When we first got there it was a nice day, but typical to Washington a little overcast.  I was a bit worried because I'm not a huge fan of being cold.  Because I was born and raised in Idaho I'm not a complete stranger to cold temperature and have learned how to deal with it, but not in my swimsuit!  Brrrrrrr!

Luckily as it go closer to noon, the clouds went away and the sun came out to play.  We played on the roller-coasters in the morning and after it got warmer changed into our swimsuits.  My cousin (and Jana's brother) Tony and his wife Tiffany joined us later in the afternoon.  This early in the summer the parks hours end earlier (probably due to Washington weather).  Starting in July the hours extend.  The park closed at 6 pm.  It wasn't terribly hot outside, but it was comfortably warm.  The only negative part of the whole day was walking around the park barefoot in my swimsuit.  My feet are very sensitive.  I am so rarely barefoot that when I have to walk around without my shoes it's not fun!  My feet still hurt the next day.

Everybody got a little sunburned.  Luckily I don't burn easily, but when I do it heals quickly.  I got a little sunburn, but it was pretty much gone the next morning.  Now I get to deal with the excitement of a peeling nose and chin and an itchy scalp!  But even dealing with those, it was an amazing day, and a day I seriously needed!

Weekend in Boise for Grandpa's Funeral

Graveside Ceremony

Austin making Addi laugh

Addison smiling

Pallbearers at the Gravyard

Grandpa Higginson

Blake, Ashley, and Addison

My family at the graveyard

Military Presentation

Top of Grandpa's Casket

Good-Bye Grandpa

 

Last Friday one of the best men I've ever known passed away.  My Grandma and Grandpa raised 5 children (my Dad is number 3).  My Grandma Higginson passed away around 8 years ago.  Together they raised my Dad's youngest brother Brent (who had Down Syndrome).  My Uncle Brent passed away around 3 years ago.  Since then my Grandpa's health had been slowly decreasing.  My Grandpa has been missing my Grandma since she died.  It's been heartbreaking to watch.  I think he held on so long because my Uncle Brent needed him so badly.  

I've had a huge conflict of feelings over the loss of my Grandpa.  I love and miss him terribly, but I'm so happy that he can finally be with my Grandma again.  This whole thing has also made me realize how much I miss my Grandma.  They were the most loving and accepting people I've ever met.  They have shown me through example the kind of person I want to eventually become.  Although financial success was not always the easiest for them to achieve, they were happier together than a lot of other more successful people.  It has made me realize that to be successful in the this life has little to do with our monetary level and everything to do with how we love and treat not only our friends and family but everyone we come in contact with.

Thanks for the amazing example you were to all of us Grandpa!  You will always be loved and missed!

Weekend of Delicious Food

We had an amazing weekend filled with delicious food!  There are some foods that I absolutely love, but don't eat very much due either to price or calorie restrictions.  I got two of those meals this weekend.

The weekend started on Friday.  A few weeks ago, we got an email from Tom's Aunt Janet.  She is a lawyer in Las Vegas and was going to be in Seattle for a couple of day for a training she had to attend.  She made us the offer that if we could get ourselves to Seattle, she would take us to dinner.  Add that amazing proposition to the possibility of Tom getting to ride a ferry and there was no way we were going to turn that one down.  So, after Tom got off work Friday we took the ferry over to Seattle.  We spent a couple of hours wandering around downtown Seattle and visiting a few novelty shops (of course Ye Old Curiosity Shop was one of them).  At 7:30 we met Tom's Uncle Ken & Aunt Martha (who live in Tacoma) at Ivar's for dinner.  For those of you who aren't familiar with Ivar's, this is an amazing Seafood Restaurant that is famous for it's Seafood and Clam Chowder.  I had the most amazing Salmon dinner of my life.  I'm still thinking about it.  I had grilled King Salmon with Asparagus.  It was absolutely mouth watering.  I also got to taste Janet's "Acres of Clams".  It was also delicious!  Good company and good food makes for an amazing dinner.  Thanks for the dinner Janet!

Saturday we spent the morning making a trip to the dump to finally get rid of the wreck of a gun cabinet the previous owners left here as well as a bunch of other miscellaneous junk.  It was quite the experience.  Turns out a lot of other people had the same idea.  Long lines at the the dump are not my idea of fun.  That night we went to our ward temple night.  Afterwards we joined 5 other members from our ward to go to an Indian restaurant.  Tom always jokes that we had to go all the way to  Japan to figure out how much we like Indian food.  The food was absolutely delicious!  I had Coconut Chicken Curry, Rice, and Cheese Nan Bread.  Nan Bread is a kind of flat bread!  It's delicious.  I might me biased, but I think my dish was better than anybody else.  Absolutely delicious!

Memorial Day Celebrations

This year for Memorial Day my cousin Jana invited us to join her and her husband Josh on a trip to the beach with their two dogs.  Jana has had Lexi for quite a while, but they recently got a puppy that we hadn't met before.  He's really cute, they named him Delorian (sp?) ....they use a shortened version that I can't remember when they are talking to him.  Jake wasn't quite sure about him when they first met, but the puppy loved Jake.  I think he found him less intimidating than Lexi (due to their size difference). 

Now, beaches in Washington are not the same experience as beaches in California or Hawaii.  For me, it never gets warm enough (even at the warmest time of the year) for me to want to get in a swimsuit and in the ocean here.  We knew that going into this, so we made sure we were dressed accordingly.

Jake had an absolute blast at the beach.  He got to chase after Lexi, birds, and the waves.  Of course because he is Jake, he does not like the water.  He accidentally found himself in the middles of a puddle a couple of times because he was so focused on following Lexi that he wasn't watching where he was going.  It was quite funny to watch him look down and realize his was in water and jump out as fast as possible.  Towards the end of our time at the beach Jake started warming up towards the little puppy.  They started wrestling around in the sand.  The cutest  thing was watching him reach up and biting Jake's ears.  Jake's usually the one doing the annoying, it was funny seeing him on the other side.

While we were up there, we had pizza at a local pizza store.  It was really tasty, although Tom was not a fan of the sun-dried tomatoes.  He piled those in a little pile on his plate.  We also went to a little souvenir shop that had a cool brush system for everyone to get the sand off their shoes before they entered the store.  The purpose of the visit was to buy some salt water taffy they had there.  They had about 20 different flavors to chose from.  They were pretty tasty!  We still have a bag of it in our kitchen.

It was a great day and when I got back home Jake and I crashed on the bed for a nap!  Perfect end to a perfect day!